Amos 5:18
New International Version
Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light.

New Living Translation
What sorrow awaits you who say, “If only the day of the LORD were here!” You have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will bring darkness, not light.

English Standard Version
Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light,

Berean Standard Bible
Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

King James Bible
Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

New King James Version
Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light.

New American Standard Bible
Woe to you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light;

NASB 1995
Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light;

NASB 1977
Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light;

Legacy Standard Bible
Woe, you who are longing for the day of Yahweh, For what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you? It will be darkness and not light;

Amplified Bible
Woe (judgment is coming) to you who desire the day of the LORD [expecting rescue from the Gentiles]! Why would you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness (judgment) and not light [and rescue and prosperity];

Christian Standard Bible
Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! What will the day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

American Standard Version
Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Woe to those who desire the day of LORD JEHOVAH! Why was the day of LORD JEHOVAH for you? It is of darkness and not light

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord! what is this day of the Lord to you? whereas it is darkness, and not light.

Contemporary English Version
You look forward to the day when the LORD comes to judge. But you are in for trouble! It won't be a time of sunshine; all will be darkness.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

English Revised Version
Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! wherefore would ye have the day of the LORD? it is darkness, and not light.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
How horrible it will be for those who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for that day? The day of the LORD is one of darkness and not light.

Good News Translation
How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the LORD! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light.

International Standard Version
"Woe to those who are craving the Day of the LORD! How is it to your benefit, this Day of the LORD? It's a day of darkness to you, and not light.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! Wherefore would ye have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light.

Literal Standard Version
Behold, you who are desiring the Day of YHWH, | Why [is] this to you—the Day of YHWH? It is darkness, and not light,

Majority Standard Bible
Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

New American Bible
Woe to those who yearn for the day of the LORD! What will the day of the LORD mean for you? It will be darkness, not light!

NET Bible
Woe to those who wish for the day of the LORD! Why do you want the LORD's day of judgment to come? It will bring darkness, not light.

New Revised Standard Version
Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light;

New Heart English Bible
"Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD. Why do you long for the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light.

Webster's Bible Translation
Woe to you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

World English Bible
“Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.

Young's Literal Translation
Ho, ye who are desiring the day of Jehovah, Why is this to you -- the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Day of the LORD
17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD. 18Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. 19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 32:24
They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.

Isaiah 5:19
to those who say, "Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!"

Isaiah 5:30
In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

Isaiah 8:22
Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

Isaiah 13:6
Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Jeremiah 13:16
Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.

Jeremiah 30:7
How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved out of it.


Treasury of Scripture

Woe to you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

desire.

Isaiah 5:19
That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

Isaiah 28:15-22
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: …

Jeremiah 17:15
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.

the day of the Lord is.

Isaiah 5:30
And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Isaiah 9:19
Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

Isaiah 24:11,12
There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone…

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Alas Dark Darkness Desire Desiring End Ho Light Purpose Sorrow Wherefore Woe
Amos 5
1. A lamentation for Israel.
4. An exhortation to repentance.
21. God rejects their hypocritical service.














(18) Desire the day of the Lord.--Expecting that day to bring you deliverance and judgments upon your enemies. It shall bring the reverse! There is a dark side to the pillar of fire.

Verses 18-27. - The prophet enforces the threat by denouncing woe on those that trust to their covenant relation to God, expecting the day when he would punish the heathen for their sakes, and thinking that external, heartless worship was acceptable to him. Verse 18. - The day of the Lord. Anycrisis in the nation's history is so called, when God interposes to punish and correct. To our minds it looks forward to the final judgment. It is often mentioned by the prophets (e.g. Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:6, 9; Joel 2:1, 11; Joel 3:18; Zephaniah 1:7, 14) as a time when the heathen should be judged, all the enemies of Israel defeated, and when Israel herself was exalted to the highest pitch of prosperity and dominion. Without any regard to the moral condition affixed to the realization of these expectations (see Joel 2:32), the people "desired" the appearance of this day, thus foolishly confirming themselves in their sinful life and false security. Some think scoffers are intended, but the context shows that the persons signified are sincere but mistaken believers in the safety of Israel's covenant position. To what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness; Why would ye have the day of the Lord? It is darkness. Why do ye, such as ye are, want this day to come? Ye know not what ye ask. It will be the very contrary to your expectations; it will be darkness, and not light, tribulation and misery, not joy and triumph for you (comp. Micah 7:8).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Woe
ה֥וֹי (hō·w)
Interjection
Strong's 1945: Ah! alas! ha!

to you who long for
הַמִּתְאַוִּ֖ים (ham·miṯ·’aw·wîm)
Article | Verb - Hitpael - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 183: To incline, desire

the Day
י֣וֹם (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3117: A day

of the LORD!
יְהוָ֑ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

What
לָמָּה־ (lām·māh-)
Preposition-l | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

will the Day
י֥וֹם (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3117: A day

of the LORD
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

be for you?
לָכֶ֛ם (lā·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

It [will be]
הוּא־ (hū-)
Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

darkness
חֹ֥שֶׁךְ (ḥō·šeḵ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2822: The dark, darkness, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness

and not
וְלֹא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

light.
אֽוֹר׃ (’ō·wr)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 216: Illumination, luminary


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OT Prophets: Amos 5:18 Woe to you who desire the day (Amo. Am)
Amos 5:17
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